Guilty Feet Without Rhythm
by Niryuu
Summary: This is a slash about HalxDave, SnakexOtacon, all that jazz and whatnot. I don't know how my skills are but when this is your first fanfic it's to be expected. I hope someone out there likes it.
1. Chapter 1

HalxDave, SnakexOtacon of Metal Gear Solid which belongs to Kojima sensei.

Hal Emmerich walked down a couple of the lonely apartment steps. He'd gone from one of the best known hackers, to a simple worker in tech support, to the unemployed lonely man that sulked upon those very steps. After months of trying for no reason he broke up with his girlfriend, he never liked her to begin with.

"Another fine mess," he muttered as he leaned against the cold railing. Small snowflakes began to caress his hair as he sat. Winter was not the best time to be homeless, maybe he could find a friend to live with. He tried to think through who would work best as a car drove up to the apartment building. He didn't have his glasses to see the figure, and didn't even notice them getting out of the car.

"Hal," the figure said, getting closer. Hal sat there not fazed. Maybe he could contact Dave, he was almost sure he wouldn't mind, but then... The reason he stopped living with Dave was because... "Are you still refusing to talk to me?" the voice rang out again. It didn't sound real to Hal though; he was too deep in thought. No, he didn't want to be a burden to Dave anymore... "Hal, you awake in there?" Suddenly he felt someone lift his head up to look at him. Through a small blur, he could make out brown hair and light blue green eyes.

"D-Dave," he said as he tried to get up. "How long have you been here?" Dave shook his head.

"What's going on?" he said, "you seem pretty distracted." Hal picked up his bag. What he wouldn't give to be able to stay with Dave again. "Are you moving?"

"Something like that," Hal said as he rubbed his eyes. They hurt from being strained, he always wore his glasses.

"Where to?" Dave said as he took the bag from Hal. "I can help you know."

"Don't know," Hal replied with a shiver. "I got kicked out today..." Dave looked at him sympathetically.

"You can always come live with me again," he said as he put the bag into the taxi. "I really miss your company." Hal blushed a bit as he slowly made his way to the taxi, unsure of what to think. "You look like hell..." Dave went on, "where are your glasses?" Hal shook his head as he finally got into the car.

"Vanessa broke them." He said bluntly as he buckled in and closed his eyes again.

"Who?" Dave said as he fastened his safety belt.

"My ex," Hal said quickly, "I broke up with her and she didn't take it to well." Dave nodded in understanding.

"Where to sirs?" The taxi driver cut in. Hal didn't mind, he'd rather avoid the subject.

"Eyewire," Dave said, trying not to chuckle. Just the thought of that name reminded him of the old days. Rather than being the simple words on a poster however, it was also a shop for glasses. The driver nodded and started off.

"I don't really have any..." Hal looked down, he felt so hopeless, "Vanessa made me leave almost everything there." Dave put his hand on Hal's shoulder in a familiar way.

"What's to say I won't help?" he said as he kept his eyes on the window. "Unless you still don't want to be friends..." Hal looked up with surprise.

"Why wouldn't I?" It made no sense to him at all.

"You never returned my calls," Dave said, "I left some messages on your answering machine every few months but got nothing back." Hal sighed.

"I'm sorry Dave," he said quietly. "Vanessa... She just really hated you, she probably deleted your messages before I got home." Dave laughed uneasily.

"What do you mean?" he said through the laughter. "I don't even know who she is." Hal knew he'd said too much and quickly thought of a way to fix it.

"She's really possessive," he said dryly, "and I thought only guys could be like that..." Dave looked him up and down.

"She didn't ever hit you did she?" Hal shook his head.

"Loved me too much for that," he said. "The problem was that I never really cared about her."

"And here I thought all this time you were doing well," Dave said as he stretched slightly. "If I knew she was a creep I would have came earlier."

"Thanks," Hal brushed his hair back a bit. "Everything would have been fine if I didn't... Never-mind." Dave glanced at him slightly, but decided to shrug it off.

"Eyewire you said, ne?" the taxi driver said as he pulled over.

"Keep the motor running," Dave said as he opened the door to step out. Hal did the same and tried to avoid oncoming traffic as he found his way to the curb. "You're sight must be really bad." Dave grabbed his hand and led him into the shop.

"It's not that bad," Hal said as he allowed himself to be pulled. "I just don't make a habit of walking around without them." Dave snickered.

"That's true," he said as Hal tried looking around. "I've never seen you without them unless you were sleeping, and now of course." They approached the counter and were greeted quickly by a woman with a pair of her own glasses.

"How can I help you Mr. Emmerich?" she said cheerfully, Hal looked down and pulled the pair of broken glasses out of his pocket.

"I kind of..." he felt horrible. He just bought those glasses last week.

"Clumsy as always huh?" she pulled out a few papers and read down them as she spoke, "here you are, nearsighted... Uh huh... Uh huh..." She turned around to the wall and found the right selection and brought it down for Hal. "You here to help him sir?" Dave nodded as he worked his way down the line and saw Hal's regular style.

"Here we are," he said as Hal took them from Dave's hand. "Unless you want something new." Hal shook his head.

"Those glasses were different for once," he said as he was finally able to see properly again. "I'd rather stick with the old for now." Dave got out his wallet as the woman at the counter rung up the price. Dave couldn't wait to go home again.


	2. Chapter 2

The taxi ride back was uneventful. They walked up the snow-covered steps, Dave smiled as he watched Hal have a bit of difficulty as he always did. The clerk at Eyewire wasn't the only one who knew about his splay issues. Dave put the key into the lock and opened the door without making a noise. He let Hal enter first and went to a flowerpot long dead and unscrewed the bottom to reveal a key.

"You can use the extra key for now," he said as he walked into the house. "I'll make another copy later." Hal nodded as he took the key into his hand and set down his bag.

"I haven't been here for years," he said as he put the key into his jacket pocket. "Do you mind if I get something to eat?" Hal went on as he felt himself getting dizzy with hunger.

"All I got is sandwich supplies and noodles." Dave said sheepishly. "But I won't stop ya from helping yourself." Hal walked over to the fridge. The house looked so empty.

"Beggars can't be choosers right?" he said as he grabbed a few supplies and began to slowly make himself a sandwich. "I haven't eaten at all."

"Considering your position," Dave thought aloud, "it's understandable." Hal nodded as he placed fresh cut cheese atop a small pile of lunchmeat and put the sandwich together.

"Are you hungry?" he said before putting the meat and cheese back into the fridge.

"I ate before I went to your house." Dave said coolly, "but thanks for the offer." Hal finished his duties and sat at the table where Dave joined him. "I actually came over to ask you something," he continued as Hal looked at him questioningly. "I wanted to know if you'd come over for Christmas dinner."

"Are we going to have sandwiches and noodles?" Hal said jokingly, forcing an all to memorable husky laugh out of Dave.

"Yeah about that…" he started, "you wouldn't mind helping me food-shop, would you?" Hal shook his head.

"You always hated shopping for anything," he laughed, "leave the shopping to me."

"Thanks," Dave said with a nervous smile, "I can handle the stuff, but I'd rather Sunny eat healthier at some point." Hal gave him an odd look.

"Sunny's living with you?" he said slightly excited. "Is she at school? I haven't seen her in a long time."

"You're going to have to wait a bit longer," Dave said as he grabbed his wallet. "She's staying with Lark and Hidehiko for the holiday." He reached over to Hal and gave him the money.

"Isn't this a bit much?" Hal said as he counted the money. There was almost a thousand dollars there.

"You're doing my shopping," Dave said as he put his wallet back, "I don't mind giving you money to buy yourself something." Hal shook his head quickly.

"I understand you letting me move back in with you," he said, "but I don't need a handout." Dave laughed as he got up.

"It's not a handout," he said, "if you want to pay me back later then go ahead, but maybe you can use it for Christmas shopping." Hal gave him a weird look, then slipped the money into his pocket.

"You're always so impossible," he said dryly.

"You're just a pushover," Dave said with a smile, "I'm not the one who was dating someone I didn't love."

"That's different," Hal said, somewhat offended. "I was trying to forget… Something."

After a while, Hal finished his sandwich and readied himself to go to the store. Dave watched him hail a taxi and begin to drive off. The guy always seemed to be going through something, it wasn't right. Dave stepped out the door and went to hail his own cab. He wasn't going to stand for it this time.

"I'm seeing a lot of you today sir," the driver said as Dave got in. He noticed it was the same driver from before. "Where to?"

"Back to Madison street apartments," Dave said as he fastened his safety belt. The driver stepped lightly on the gas without question and drove forward. He watched the snow begin to fall harder from the window. Knowing Hal, he'd of been out there long enough to catch a cold if Dave hadn't of found him. The man was excellent when it came to computer smarts, but real life situations just didn't apply to him.

"What happened to your friend?" the taxi driver said. "You two seemed to have been talking it up a while ago."

"He's doing some shopping…" Dave said trying to avoid a conversation with a strange cabdriver.

"I know what you're thinking," he said with a slight giggle. "I'm not following you, I just dropped someone off a block away from yours and was heading back into town." Dave shook his head.

"Never said you were," he said bluntly. "I just don't normally get friendly cabdrivers." The car went quiet as the cab found the next street. Dave thought about his words, it wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth. His own car was getting an alarm setup, but even if he did go anywhere save from picking up or dropping off Sunny, it wouldn't be by cab. The last time he went near a cab, Hal was moving away and promising he'd still visit. It had been a long three years.

"Here we are sir," the driver said as he parked in the same spot as before. "Do you want me to-"

"Leave the motor running," he interrupted as he got out of the cab and began walking up the steps and into the door.

"Welcome," came the voice of an old man from behind the front desk. "How may I help you sir?"

"I'm looking for my friends apartment," Dave said as he approached the desk. It looked old and tattered and seemed to have the word 'Sexy' carved into it. "His girlfriend kicked him out today and I'm here to pick up his things before anything bad happens." The man nodded.

"It's that Vanessa huh?" he said with a sigh. "She won't go easy on you." Dave nodded his head in understanding. "But the best of luck to you." He wrote the apartment number on a piece of paper and sent Dave off to an elevator. After fumbling about with a few buttons, he was on his way.


	3. Chapter 3

"That's not fair

"That's not fair!" a little girl said as she went running past Dave. "Give it back already!" She chased after a boy about her size as he teasingly held a toy just out of her reach.

'I'm glad I only have one…' Dave thought to himself as he found the door. He knocked gingerly on the door and waited.

"Go away Hal," came the voice inside.

"It's not Hal." Dave said back. He heard a slight shuffle from inside and waited for the door to open. As the door opened he saw a younger woman with dark brown hair and a tank top. She glared at him.

"You!" she said as she tried to slam the door. Dave allowed his foot to stop the motion and pushed the door open. "You've done enough!" she backed away, unsure of what to do. "What do you want from me?"

"I want Hal's stuff," he said as he looked around. "That's all, then I'll be fine with leaving you here to sulk."

"So," she scoffed, "he went running back to you?" She grabbed a large box which contained a couple books and outfits among other things. "I hope it's big enough for you to hide in." she said sarcastically. Dave shook his head.

"What about his computer?" he said as he found a laptop sitting on a table.

"He sold it," she said with her arms crossed. "All his files are on his jump drive." Dave looked at her slightly puzzled. Hal wouldn't sell his computer unless he really had to.

"Where's his jump drive?" he said as he looked around the desk. Vanessa picked up a strange lighter looking object and connected it to what looked like a neck strap. "What is that?" Dave said as she handed it to him.

"It's a jump drive you idiot," she said with a hint of anger. "Hal was right, you don't know anything about technology." Dave started to walk out.

"If that's all," he said with his eyes closed, "then I'm leaving." Vanessa put her finger over her mouth and thought for a second.

"Should I tell you," she wondered, "or not?" A sly grin formed across her face as Dave looked at her again.

"I don't think I want to hear anything you have to say," he spurted out, he could feel her heated glare on him.

"Do you even know who I am?" she yelled as she grabbed at something on the desk.

"You're trash compared to-"

"Lady," Dave said as he grabbed her hand and put the item back on the desk. "You're not worth the fifteen cents in your pocket." Her eyes widened.

"How did you know…" She shook her head as he let go of her hand and walked towards the door.

"I've been hearing them jingle," he said, "it's too small to be a quarter and it's too big to be a dime." Dave left the room and snickered, he didn't hear a damned thing.

Hal walked out of the grocers' mart feeling somewhat proud of his findings on such short notice. Though he knew Dave favored goose for Christmas, he also knew it wouldn't matter if he replaced it with ham. It was a meal they both enjoyed, and to be frank, Hal hated goose.

Hal finally found his way back into the house as the taxi driver helped him put his things into the house.

"This should cover the bill," he said as he handed the driver his money. He slowly walked inside of the house and began to put the groceries in their proper places. Christmas wouldn't be for another couple of days so he put the ham in the freezer accompanied by frozen cherries, the cranberry sauce was put in the cupboard consisting mainly of cup a noodle, along with pie making equipment and a few other Christmas necessities.

As he finished with his work, a lack of sound caught his attention. Dave hadn't come into the room or anything since he'd gotten home. Without thought, he began to look through the house for his friend.

"Dave?" he called as he checked out the downstairs bedroom. There was nothing in there aside from a couple of boxes that contained an old life, one that had been forgotten however not disposed of. "Dave, are you here?" he began trudging up the stairs and into what used to be his old bedroom. "Dave?" he said with a slight knock as the door gently opened.

It was practically his old room, lacking in only a computer. He looked down, 'of course,' he thought. Vanessa made him sell it for rent money after making him quit his job. That woman was such a maniac. Hal sat down on the floor up against a box as he tried to think things through, nothing seemed different, but nothing was the same. He was still in love, and he was still out of luck. There was no possible way that anything good would happen from him living with Dave, but going back to Vanessa, or living elsewhere would only leave him depressed again.

He sighed as he leaned up a little harder against the box, hearing a muffed grunt as he did so. Someone, must likely Dave, was in the box. Hal lightly picked up the box to find Dave fast asleep.

"C'mon Dave," Hal whispered as he tried to help him up, "let's get you to the bed." Dave made a strange sound as Hal tried to maneuver his neck under Dave's arm to try and lift him up, before Hal knew it, he was on the ground as well. "Just my luck..." he whispered, "alright lazy, get up." Dave sighed as he pulled Hal closer to him, but didn't wake from his sleep. 'What am I? A teddy bear?' Hal thought as he escaped the grip and began to shake his sleeping friend. "Plan on sleeping all day?" he said as he saw Dave's eyes flick open.

"When'd you get home?" he said as he stretched a bit. "Do you like your room?" he let his arm present what he'd already seen.

"Just got back," he said grabbing Dave's arm to help him up. "It's almost perfect." Dave laughed a bit.

"Hard to please," he said as he accepted the help up, "you haven't changed a bit." Hal smiled as he found his way over to the bed. "I got you something a while ago, I hope you can still use it." He quickly walked into the closed and grabbed a somewhat flat rectangular box. "It's been a couple years," he added, "but I'm sure you can get it back up to date." Hal shyly grabbed the gift from Dave and opened it up slowly, inevitably revealing a laptop. "I turned it on earlier," he said as he handed Hal his jump drive, "didn't think you'd mind if I put all your stuff from here on it."

"Wow," Hal said, truly touched by the sentiment. "You touched a computer?" he added with a bit of humor.

"It's the model you were whining about wanting," Dave replied with a grin, "Mei Ling told me you were interested in it so I picked it up for you as a Christmas present." Hal shook his head as he opened it up and turned it on.

"I don't know what to say, thanks Dave," his eyes were starting to tear up as he familiarized his fingers with the keys. He hadn't touched a computer in a good two years.

"So, were you able to find anything good?" Dave said, changing the subject.

"I'm gonna make ham, cranberry sauce and cherry pie," Hal replied as he opened a couple folders and switched away their order to his liking. "I was also thinking about making deviled eggs."

"So I guess goose is out," Dave said in a disappointed tone, making Hal laugh.

"I wish I liked goose like you," he said between laughs. "I'll make it for you soon though."


	4. Chapter 4

Hal found a comfy spot on the old bed he remembered from long ago

Hal found a comfy spot on the old bed he remembered from long ago. It was still just as soft as he remembered it, much better than sleeping on the couch at Vanessa's house. Grabbing his new laptop, he pressed start, noticing the my recent documents folder having an arrow by it. This doesn't normally happen unless it just turns up blank. He flicked his finger off into the direction of the folder and allowed the cursor to stay over it as he waited for it to show up. The only file on the list was a simple word document reading David. Hal froze quickly 'he couldn't of...' he thought as he brushed his fingers over the keys nervously, allowing himself to open the document.

Within just a few pages, that entire document explained every aspect of his love for Dave, it was something he'd never shown to anyone, aside from Vanessa who constantly snuck on to his computer and searched through his files. It was almost deleted a number of times, and certainly saved from the garbage can more times than Hal could count. Every once in awhile he'd add something to it, or delete something that just didn't seem to fit.

He skimmed the work a bit, the beginning was just an honest memory of Shadow Moses, but the further you read, the easier it was to see his true feelings.

"This isn't good," Hal whispered as he finally closed the document to stop himself from feeling too awkward. "I thought Dave didn't even know how to use a computer..." with that and nothing else, he turned the computer off and snuggled up to a pillow. He didn't want to admit it, but he hadn't slept in the past three days, it wouldn't be long before he fell into a deep sullen sleep.

"Hal?" came the sound of Dave's voice, Hal rolled over and began to stretch. Automatically remembering last nights incident. "You gonna stay in bed all day?"

"What time is it?" Hal finally said with a yawn.

"Almost twelve-thirty," Dave said as he opened the closet, revealing a pile of boxes marked 'Hal's Decorations' and taking them out.

"I can't believe they're still here," he said, a little bit relieved, "I'd never have seen them again if I brought them to-"

"You can stop you know," Dave interrupted with a laugh, "the more you think about her, the worse off you're going to get."

"Not really," Hal said as he got up, "she's just the only person I've really been in contact with for the past few years." He started to look through the first box. "Do you know where my grandfather's mistletoe is?" Dave laughed as he shook his head.

"It's at the top," he said reaching up, "I gave it a different boy." He handed the box to Hal who opened it up quickly and took it out.

"This was always my favorite," he said as he traced along the outline, "I was so happy when he gave it to me."

"I don't see who you're planning to kiss with that," Dave said with a grin.

"That's not the point in it!" Hal said, slightly frazzled, "it has a lot of sentimental value to it." Dave grunted as he brought another box out.

"You never take jokes well," he said in a low grumble, "want breakfast before we start working?" Hal nodded as he held the mistletoe closely.

As Dave stood at the stove with some eggs and bacon cooking, Hal took the time off to hang the mistletoe in its usual spot, the doorway from the living room to the kitchen. Ever since Dave had taken the door off, it was a perfect fit and added a happier mood to the house.

Toast too?" Dave said as he moved from the stove quickly to the bread box.

"Yeah," Hal nodded as he leaned up against the door hinge to wait and watch Dave run around from one appliance to another. He'd lived on his own in Alaska for years, it was obvious he knew how to cook, but a lot of people would never believe it. Why he'd been slacking so often was beyond Hal, especially with Sunny in the household.

Dave quickly walked out of the kitchen and over to the coffee table to grab a cup. Hal got off the hinge with a stretch as Dave approached and stood still, thinking deeply.

"What?" Hal said. Before he knew what was going on, Dave grabbed his jaw, right underneath his ear, pulling their faces together to a soft, smooth kiss.

Surprised, Hal was forced to again lean up against the wall. The kiss felt amazing, however it made him sick to his stomach. This wasn't just some lucky thing he stumbled upon, Dave read the document... It could have meant anything. Finding his courage, Hal pushed Dave away and sunk to the ground.

"How can you be so cruel?" he said as he felt tears coming from his eyes. Dave didn't move, didn't laugh, didn't say a word. "I know you read my document..."

"Huh?" he said, seeming somewhat dazed.

"The file on my computer with your name!" Hal felt himself getting hysterical, "I know how to find out if you open something up on there." Dave scratched his head.


	5. Chapter 5

"You mean that thing about Shadow Moses

"You mean that thing about Shadow Moses?" he said as he put his finger to his mouth. "I read the first couple of lines, but I felt bad about it." He got onto his knees with Hal and tried to gain his eyesight. "It didn't feel right reading something that wasn't mine," he went on, "that's like listening in on someone else's codec call, you just don't do it." Hal tried not to laugh, the mans logic was simple, but honest.

"Then why did you... Just now," Hal breathed as Dave sighed.

"That was mainly for myself," he said in a low voice, "thought the mistletoe would cover for me..." he shook his head. "Can't be right all the time I guess." Hal looked at him carefully. "I... To be honest, there's something about you I can't help but love." with just these words, Hal froze. "I never planned on telling you..." he added quietly, "but after you left, I couldn't take it anymore. Mei Ling had to actually track your address down for me in the end, no one knew."

"I didn't want anyone to know," Hal sighed, "I wanted to forget everything..."

"So," Dave said, "it was that bad just to live with me?" Hal shook his head as a tear rolled down his face.

"It was and it wasn't" he said as he wiped the tear away. "I loved the fact that I could just be near you..."  
"Hal..?"

"But I told myself every day it couldn't be..." he leaned himself cautiously into Dave's arms. "The more I loved you, the more it hurt." Dave wrapped his arms around Hal, who lifted his face to see Dave's eyes, they looked like ice no matter what, but his expression always hinted at the opposite. Leaning forward, he allowed his lips to brush with Dave's, who gladly ran his tongue along the bottom of his lip. Hal opened his mouth slightly, letting Dave's tongue slide in to caress his own. Dave lifted a hand to Hal's cheek and slowly pulled out of the kiss. Dave nuzzled Hal's nose as they heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Dave called as he shook his head, trying not to laugh.

"Natsu-Hatsu Urinashi!" the door said back as the intruder started scratching, "can we come in?" Dave sighed happily and got up.

"He was supposed to be here in a couple days," he said as he opened the door, "what made you come back early?" Natsu fidgeted a bit.

"Nothing," he said as he tried to look sad, it wasn't working. "I don't know anything about a specific and unnamed taxi driver keeping tabs on you for the ultima of SNAKEXOTACON!" Hal's eyes went wide as he sat up against the door.

"Ultima of what?" Snake said, slightly annoyed.

"It's a fandom term used," Hal tried to explain with his own confusion. "Adding X to the characters names means that's how the fan intends they be coupled..." Natsu smiled widely as Sunny walked up with her backpack.

"Uncle Dave!" she said happily as she hugged his knee, "uncle Dave I had so much fun!"

"Perfect timing Sunny," Natsu said as he started to run off laughing and got into his car. Sunny looked to the side of Dave's knee to see Hal sitting up against the door hinge.

"Uncle Hal!" she all but screamed as she ran into his arms, "uncle Hal where did you go?"

"What matters is he's back," Dave said as he bent down next to them, Sunny nodded, rubbing her cheek up against Hal's while doing it, forcing Hal to laugh. Dave got up and walked to the stove to move the eggs around a bit, glad they hadn't burned. "Are you hungry Sunny?" the girl nodded, but refused to let go of Hal as he stood up with her. Dave grabbed three plates and proportioned them with eggs and bacon as he grabbed the toast and gave one piece to Sunny, one for himself and two for Hal.

"We're not having sandwiches?" Sunny asked as Hal sat down with her, "or noodles?" Hal laughed and was handed his plate and started eating.


End file.
